Serena to captain England again

SERENA GUTHRIE will captain England for a fourth time next week, after being named at the head of Tracy Neville’s squad list for the 2019 Quad Series.

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Serena Guthrie was back in Team Bath kit for the first time in five years on 5 January – her 29th birthday – as the 2019 Vitality Netball Superleague season began in Birmingham. She was announced as England captain for the upcoming Quad Series two days later Picture: GETTY IMAGES/ENGLAND NETBALL

The former Le Rocquier student, who guided the Roses to a 3-0 series triumph over Uganda in December, has been given the nod once again for the final round of competitive fixtures before this summer’s World Cup in Liverpool.

England will meet world champions Australia on Sunday 20 January at the Copper Box Arena in London, following outings against New Zealand on 13 January and South Africa on 19 January. Australia won the 2018 Quad Series after enjoying revenge against England, who won the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Australian turf.

Guthrie joined up with her international team-mates earlier this week for their latest Quad Series training camp, having helped Team Bath to an opening win on her return to English Supeleague netball.

'It was obviously fun to get out there and get our first win under our belts,’ said the 29-year-old, when asked about her first appearance for Bath since 2014.

‘It wasn’t perfect from our perspective and there are lots of things to work on, but it was good to pull away for a comfortable win. It was a good first hit out as a new team, and we’re building. Every week we’ll be trying to work on our combinations to get the win.’

She added: ‘It’s the first game so you can’t take too much from it, but it was a good chance to see the teams who will probably challenging for the finals and those who might struggle to get into the top four. It was a great day. The crowd was awesome and they packed out the venue. It was a fun atmosphere.’